Game Changer
by WomanSlayer
Summary: So when a little internet troll sends me a suspicious link I click on it only to be sent into the Mass Effect universe, better yet, I was re-incarnated in there. If theres one thing i'm not doing while i'm here... It's helping Shepard.
1. One link to rule them all

Do you believe in magic? Well even if you don't I do, because somehow my life has spiraled beyond the bounds of reality and logic. When I was in my old life, world, universe, or whatever you call it, I was your average nerd. At least, I'm pretty sure I was. My life mainly revolved around Video games. That makes you a nerd right?

_I love video games._

Not only was it video games that I adored, I also loved to read fantasy and Sci-Fi novels. To some of my friends, my love for games was a little...Concerning. To my family it was...Well let's just say they would've hired a psychiatrist to poke me brain for a little bit to see if i have any screws loose in my head. I _really_ love video games. However, in my twenty plus years of living I had became infatuated with one particular game, or series rather.

_Mass Effect._

I _adored _it. Everything from the characters, the enemies, the lore, the species that inhabited the galaxy.

_I was captivated_.

I spent almost every night and day on my laptop playing Mass Effect when it first came out and had hundreds of hours logged on almost every character i had and did almost every do-able female crew member on that ship and made every paragon decision there was.

_I was the good guy._

But I soon grew tired of it. And then…Mass Effect 2 came out and the first thing i did was have a three day straight Mass Effect binge, playing from dusk to dawn and vice-versa. Playing the good guy was boring though, as it seemed to me that Shepherd fit the renegade role better in the second installment. But for some inexplicable reason i was still not satisfied with a renegade Shepard. I wanted something different. Something..._unexpected._

Yes...Unique. All my life i've seen nothing but the good guys winning, defeating the antagonist, saving the damsel, then living happily ever after. I'd always see these in the movies, the books, the shows, the games….

_I HATED IT._

And then one night, after playing some ME:2 just dicking around with some mods i downloaded earlier, I had the strangest dream. It felt and looked real. Well, I guess all dreams look real, but this dream...Somehow I _knew_ it was different from the other ones i've had. I was standing in a grass field with wild flowers growing in small patches around me. I could _feel _the wind, the grass, I could breathe the air around me and smell the pleasant smells of the wilderness. _Fucking fantastic_. Thats when I was completely positive that this wasn't any ordinary dream. No, It would prove to be something even more complicated than my little human mind can wrap figure out.

_A proposition._

It was a personal invitation to live in the world I fell in love with. The world of Mass Effect. Now I'm pretty sure some other ordinary scrub would have said yes and happily gone along to do whatever they wanted to do and shit, but not me. I politely declined the request because of two reasons. Reason one; It was an Asari that invaded my dreams. Now, i have no beef with the Asari, but this one… She was weird. She looked like your average Asari with the purple skin and tentacle head and shit, but there was something about her that just...Well let's just say that if I could have ran I would have. Reason two; I had to help Shepherd defeat the reapers. Now I know what you're probably not thinking, 'Aw man, you could have met _the_ Commander Shepherd and kicked ass and all that crap!' No. No, no and more nos'. I wasn't about to become some lackey of the hands of fate and go on a journey with the fellowship of the Shepherd. Hell no. I am a strong, independent black woman! Well, I'm not really a woman, i'm a guy...A 22 year old man! I am a grown adult and i should be able to do whatever i want however i want whenever I want!

Boy, imagine her face when I told her all of that.

The Asari left my dream and went about her own business as I went about mine. Wait, was it my dream? I mean, as soon as she left I woke up and well that gets me guessing…

As soon as I woke up I scrambled out of my bed and went straight to my laptop and opened up my trusty browser. I went on multiple chat sites, search engines, porn sites and watched many youtube videos asking people or seeing if any other people had any weird dreams about a Asari asking them to 'fight the good fight'. Apparently i was the only guy who did.

And then, something really creepy and weird happened.

A notification from one of my chat accounts popped up to show me someone sent me a message. Curiosity engaged. I opened the chat box on my browser to see that the message was sent by 'Unknown' at 'Unknown' time in 'Unknown' location. I wouldn't have been bothered if it were just an unknown name and location, but that wasn't so. _How the hell do you make your time unknown?_ And that, really put me on edge, but apparently there were even more surprises, because when i actually read the message, well, it sounded like your average ten year old troll.

'_How bad do you want it?'_

I mean, freaky right. I quickly hit the reply button and asked them who they were, as any person would do when met with an unknown adversary. Not even a full second passes before he replied. With the same question. So this little shit wants to play games huh? Deciding to play along I typed the five magic words into the chatbox.

'_Badly.'_

Oh ho ho! Color me surprised when the little shit sent me a totally suspicious link to a website called '_ME' dot com. _Me and my damn curiosity decided to put up every firewall i had on this shitty laptop and enable my two trusty anti-virus protectors. I then went back to the chat box and hovered my mouse pointer over the link.

"I swear if it's a damn screamer…" I said to myself aloud.

With a mighty push of my finger I clicked the link and….Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I waited a couple of seconds, then minutes, then a whole hour passed before _something _ happened. I would have been very happy that my patience had rewarded me with a spontaneous event but instead of life and reality performing the way it should be I found myself being sucked into my computer screen. Like, literally I was being forcibly _sucked _into my laptops screen, with my whole body being crushed by an invisible force.

And then, there was darkness. All I saw was goddamned darkness, and my body seemed to have wandered away from my consciousness for I could not feel nor move any of my limbs. I believe this is what they call 'Limbo'? I was in this void of nothing and boringness for lord knows how long. I was in there for maybe, days, weeks, months, years?

And then, just when i was about to commit imaginary suicide (I would imagine myself stabbing myself while myself died, does that make sense?) for the thousandth time, Hope came and saved me from this personal hell. I found my self being shifted and moved on this cosmic plane of nothingness to the familiar feeling of a...A...A body! Thank whatever Gods that may have rescued me for allowing to live again! Just when things were looking up I found myself unable to move, well i _could_ move but it was really limited movement and I couldn't open my eyes no matter how hard i tried. And then '_it'_ happened. I guess you could say it was the 'Big Bang' equivelant of something...i don't know what i'm talking about, but I felt _huge_ pressure around my body and this wet squelching and farting noises. And then there was light.

No literally, there was light, though I couldn't really see it, I could _feel_ it. Like, have you ever closed your eyes and shined a light in them? Yeah, it was like that. Not too long after I was taken out the slip and slide of near death was I assaulted by large rough hands. Wait.

Large hands.

Wet cave.

Eyes won't open.

Barely moving body and it feels like i'm breathing for the first time.

_Fuck_.

That little shit trolled me.

_I was fucking re-born _in _the Mass Effect universe._


	2. Humble Beginnings

If you could be any of the Citadel races, which one would you choose? Oh, really? What an interesting choice, how lucky of you. The reason that you're lucky is because you would get to _choose_ what species you'd want to be. Me? Haha, nope. Of all the species in the Mass Effect universe I get the most taxing and boring one.

_Turians._

Now for some of you, this may be a dream come true, but for me? Well lets just say that if I could choose my own race i'd totally pick something other than _this_. Now don't get me wrong, I think the Turians are cool with their little war paint and stuff, now I don't know about you, but i'm not fond of the whole "15 year old mandatory enlistment" thing, even if I could be a trained killer. Actually, I think i'll just go and be a regular law-abiding citizen or something, but knowing how situations like this work, me, being the main character seems to make your life a lot more hectic than need-be. At least the Turians look cool, right? I mean, who wouldn't want to be a flying space bird with tribal markings?

_Oh how I was going to enjoy this…_

* * *

**Some time later.**

* * *

After being manhandled by a set of hands I was laid in my new mothers arms. Seeing how my eyes were still unable to be opened, I could only guess that my mother was probably about to die or something, I mean she was shaking like crazy and I was really concerned because, hey, she could drop me you know or maybe break a fragile bone in my body? And then she spoke. I was really surprised how soft and smooth her voice was seeing how Turians have that flangy voice. For some reason I found solace in her voice, I guess that's a maternal thing, no matter what species you are. Chirp Chirp. Thats all I heard though as she talked to me and I had no idea what they meant, yet, but they sure as hell made me feel safe and sleepy because I soon found myself in a dream again. Except this wasn't a normal dream, and I reckon that I didn't fall asleep naturally either, because this dream had a foreign invader.

_The same Thrice damned Asari from before._

"Oh my Gosh, what the heck do you want, didn't I tell you to screw off earlier." After hearing my insult the Asaris' face turned into a deep scowl.

"I came here to tell you that you've made a grave mistake in making an enemy of me."

What.

She really expects me to be intimidated by her presence within my own mind?

"Is that all you wanted to tell me? I mean, that was really anti-climactic you know. And cliche now that I thought about it."

The Asari lady just looked at me with her scowl becoming deeper and her face started to redden. Is she actually trying to strangle herself?

Before I could even ask I woke up to the familiar darkness of having your eyes closed. I also felt the sensation of some strong arms holding me, instead of my mothers' soft yet firm arms, and feeling up my face with a taloned finger. Feeling around with my baby hands I tried to 'see' who or what was holding me.

"Oh, well looks like we have a clingy one, doesn't it?"

Indeed, the result of my indiscriminate grabbing resulted in the grasping of someones face, though by the Turians deep voice I could tell that it was a guy. And by me feeling up and holding on to his...His, uh. Whatever that thing is on a Turians face, the mandibles right?

"Yes, he certainly is. I guess he might be just like you after all Adrien."

Wait, hold on _Adrien!? _Besides all the other incoherent chirps and birdsongs, the name of this guy came out clear as day some how. What type of Turian is named _Adrien?_ I mean, I know some basic Latin, but Adrien just doesn't sound Latin-y at all seeing how the Turians have a Pseudo-Latin naming style and stuff. Even the name Garrus sounds Latin-y.

_I need more information._

Deciding to play the fool and act my age for the first time in my new life I made a bunch of 'goo goo gagas' and tried to sound distressed or something. Well, it really wasn't a bunch of 'goo goo gagas' but more like high pitched chirping and clucking noises.

"Ah, looks like I've overstayed my welcome, here, you take him. I think he's hungry."

Ah, well it appears that I have gave off the wrong impression and am now going to be the first ex-human to taste a female Turians breast milk seeing how my mother forcibly yet delicately opened my mouth. Wait. Turians are birds right? Doesn't that mean…

_Aw, shit._

Literally, the regurgitated food coming from her mouth tasted like shit, well not like the real shit, but an extremely bland and foul. It was interesting seeing how similar these Turians are to Earths' birds, but I guess I'll have to store that inquiry for later in life when I am able to go to the library or something and research the genetics of the galactic civilizations.

After eating the regurgitated food a sixth sense kicked in and I realised we weren't in the hospital anymore, in fact we weren't there at all. It seems to me that some Turians prefer in-home birthing versus going to the Hospital, and that makes sense if you think about seeing how birds are born in nests, and how I was born in a 'nest'.

Feeling the extremities of the day catch up to me I decided to go to sleep again, but the feeling of movement and sound of feet hitting the floor suggested we were going somewhere inside the house. We walked, or rather the person holding me walked, for about 4, 5 seconds before I was placed in a crib of some sorts. I say a crib of some sort because this crib, unlike the ones of Earth, kept moving every time I moved.

_How annoying._

And me being the curious and restless person I am, found it rather hard to go to sleep now that the surroundings had shifted left and right. Wait, I can 'feel' the area around me, like a mental awareness system…

_Weren't Turians the Apex predators on Palaven?_

Oh mamma, I am going to love this. I guess being a Turian has benefits after all….


	3. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Despite my earlier assumptions, I quickly learned that I wasn't related to _the _Adrien Victus of the Mass Effect series.

_And I was born not on the Citadel, nor Palaven, but in the Terminus systems. Go me._

Apparently it was some backwater planet called Rhesus, in the Hibatua system. Definitely a planet you don't see in the game. Rhesus is a planet with a pretty bad weather, constantly raining, icing, snowing, and only had one season.

_Winter._

Despite all this you _kinda _adapt to it. That is, if you were a native to this backwater planet.

I quickly learned my newfound resistance to the planet's weather after one day I forgot my jacket at home when I left for school. I could still feel the cold, but I wasn't drastically affected by it. Think of a person from...Let's say; Anchorage, Alaska. Going down to Minnesota, United States, during the winter.

_Yeah…_..

My family, or the people I _now _live with, are pretty average for Turians. I mean, sure my 'Dad' is a racist who despises Humanity for taking away his father and brother prematurely and my 'Mother' an insecure and spineless woman who tries her best at being a proper mother, but is too hooked on drugs to really care, or try, half the time. At least my mother tries though so i have to give credit to where it's at, unlike my father, who on my 6th birthday told me to 'hurry the fuck up and get a job', then proceeded to hit me six times in my face. Hardly love-taps.._._

_Ah, good memories._

It wasn't until I started attending school did I get to really see the hellhole I lived in with my own eyes. I mean, I heard things at night, and on some occasions saw things, but my explorations into almost every nook and cranny of this place allowed me to see _why_ everyone -who was able to, that is- avoided going near the Terminus system. Not only because of the slavers, pirates, druggies, gangs and murderers, rapists, psychotics, and terrorists, but because; The whole system had ridiculous laws, or the lack thereof. Theoretically, each planet in the Terminus system was like a Greek city state. Yeah, there _are _some laws, made by the people, but there isn't _anyone _who 'enforces' the law. They'd rather make their own and force others to go by their law. That is, if you have a large gang backing you and enough money to keep the cops away.

Wait, there are no cops.

When all's said and done though, I was given an opportunity to come into the Mass Effect universe and do whatever the fuck I want, and I'm sure as hell going to make the best of it. How, you ask?

_I become this galaxy's best antagonist._

**Dredge City, Rhesus.**

**2177**

Dredge city, named so inaccurately for the frozen harbors, lakes and rivers that used to work or run properly once upon an eon ago and had to be cleaned out every month for all the trash thrown in there time from time by the inhabitants of the planet and the factories that scarred the land like pimples on a prepubescent teenager.

_Filthy creatures._

Really, these people made Humanity of the 21st century seem like the shining example of an Eco-friendly race. Rhesus was predominantly an Industrial world, and was known for its abundance of resources and was, unsurprisingly, stripped, drilled, and traumatized for the rest of this planet's life. The combination of all the people burning trash and factories spewing smoke from its smokestacks darkened the skies causing the temperatures to decrease dramatically and nearly killed the planet, forcing people to evacuate until the planet was stabilized. The morons that decided that it was a good idea to return to this dump have been staying here for hundreds of years and are still using the factories, but not to the full extent as before, thank God.

Unfortunately, more morons from Omega, with the right amount of money and manpower, decided that they could start running this planet for themselves and turned this planet into a black market world, and started calling themselves 'The Gang' and wasn't beneath selling anything, and _anyone _to fund their private little army. This new change in leadership allowed anything, and I mean _anything_ to happen on this planet. And if you wanted to survive, you either owned a business and had a lot of dudes guarding your assets and yourself, or joined The Gang. Of course for me, self-preservation came first, both in my past life and my new one, so I wasn't surprised when I found myself hustling people on the streets and "collecting debts" for the people I'd probably never meet face-to-face.

Which brings me to the current situation at hand now, at 16 years old, aiming my cheap patchwork sub-machine gun at a drugged up Salarian in the dead of night.

"I'm telling you man I don't have the money, but i'll have by tomorrow! I swear-"

"Listen, you said the same thing yesterday," I said, cutting him off, "... _and _the day before when I first came to get the money." Feeling my irritation dominating my face, I tried my best to get the addict to cough up the money without resorting to violence as fast as possibly, unless he panic and stab me with that needle in his pocket.

"And I told you I don't have it right now! I..I need more time, I promise I'll have by the end of the week!" Clicking my mandibles in displeasure, I let my arm holding the SMG fall to my side and paced around the Salarians surprisingly clean apartment.

"You know Trechin, you've missed two payment days, right?" Seeing the Salarians eyes widen in fear I continued, "And you know The Gangs policy regarding people who miss their payments. _A third day,_ right?" Trechin started pleading when he realized the meaning of my words

"Listen, listen! I'll give you all I've got okay! it's only half of whats owed, but please! Take it! Tell your boss that I'll pay the rest as soon as I can!"

Normally, A person who had missed three payment days consecutively were to be...Taken care of. But I honestly didn't feel like killing him over the 800 credits he owed The Gang, especially in the dead of night.

Moving my mandibles in the Turian equivalent of a smile, I gestured with my free hand for Trechin to hand over the money. Which he did of course, seeing how no one wants to dies over something silly as this.

"Here, 400 credits, it's all I have." Trechin said. "Don't worry Trechin, I'll show this to my boss and he'll see if this is enough, but if he say's it isn't...Well, you might want to start on that Will of yours."

With my business settled here, I made my way out Trechins apartment and headed to one of the Gang owned clubs in the city, where my "Boss" was residing at.

Of course, he wasn't the _real_ boss of The Gang, just a 'general' that commanded an 'army' of teenagers and youngsters who've joined in order to survive on this gods-forsaken world, The Gangs recruiting methods were really smart in my opinion, Since The Gang owned almost this entire planet, they controlled what went in, what went out, what is sold on the markets they own and what grows on the few plantations on this world they own, and since they controlled what was grown they could also control how _much_ is distributed for sale, which led to them nearly starving the plebeians and in turn, forcing them to join their makeshift army so they could eat and not die. Or watch themselves and their families die. Or friends. Or pets.

Arriving at the club called _New Haven_ I showed the bouncer my wrist tattoo marking me as a member of The Gang, and walked to the VIP booth where my boss was at. My boss was a Human in his forties with balding blond hair and a face that only a Varren could love.

"Ah, Adrienne!" He said with a full smile full of obviously fake friendliness. Fake fucker.

"Vadrien." I immediately corrected. "Ah, yes. Vadrien! How nice of you to show up. You have the payment, I presume?"

"Half of it. Trechin said only gave me 400 and said he'd have the rest by the end of the week." My boss' face lost all of its friendly demeanor and was replaced with a sneer Voldemort would be proud of.

"You let that greasy Frog-fucker pay _half _of the payment owed and LET HIM LIVE!" From the corner of my eyes I could see the two guards opposite of the room tighten their grips on their assault rifles. "I could have _sworn_ that I taught you the rules of The Gang before you became a full-time member. Or maybe I was...Mistaken?"

I now realize the error of my ways. Maybe letting him live was a bad idea. In this situation I could either, A) Apologize and beg for my life, or B) Be a complete badass and throw the money at him and walk out like a boss.

I decided to go with choice A and live another day.

"I-I'm sorry! I swear on the ancestors it won't happen again!" The Boss' face seemed to contort and move into a sadistic smile before he spoke again.

"Alright, hand over the money and as your punishment, not only do you get…'re-educated', you will also go back to that Frogs house and put a pellet between his bug-eyed head!" Seeing no other option that doesn't involve me dying, I decided to nod my head like the good little expendable grunt I am and complete the task, _punishment_, given to me.

"Of course, thank you for your generosity Boss, I'll see that the task is done!" After nodding my head hysterically, I hurried out of the club with my SMG in hand speed-walking back to Trechin's apartment as fast as I possibly could walk.

_Because, running is for losers..._


	4. Use my skin as a what?

**Disclaimer: I own Mass Effect and Bioware. _Obviously_. Because instead of using these Ideas as DLC content and filing C&amp;D orders on every other person who has written ME fan-fics on this site, called "_ " _I have decided to post this story on _FAN-FICTION DOT NET_ for free, and for everyone to see.**

**Because I _obviously_ own Bioware and the ME trilogy so I can do whatever I want.**

* * *

**Trechin's Apartment, Dredge City.**

* * *

Of course me showing mercy would be my downfall.

After reaching Trechin's apartment in the poorer district of Dredge, I found that his door was unlocked, apartment cleaner than before and Trechin not in it. It doesn't take a genius to know that Trechin, the coward he is, packed his things and got the hell out of dodge.

"For the love of….."

The only thing I can do now is try to find him, or go back to the club and tell the boss that Trechin had gone MIA. Though I have the second option would most likely see me six feet under and pushing up daisies.

I raided the empty apartment for any clues as to where Trechin might be checking his bedroom, kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Nothing. Nada, null, zip, nothing.

_So if I were a drug addict with no money, where would I go?_

That's when it hit me. The cheapest Spaceport to get out of this shit city was Darkantis. Darkantis acted as way to get off world, and as a way to city to city.

Checking my omni-tool I checked the time and flagged down a taxi to the Darkantis Space Port. If I was quick, maybe I could catch him before he leaves.

_If he hasn't left already, if he did then I'm screwed._

Darkantis Spaceport was a real shithole.

The area in the port was trashed and had beggars in each shadow, waiting to corner you with guilt and coerce any loose credits on your person. You'd think that by 2177 you'd have no need to carry change around but apparently doing transactions with your omni tool is like a credit card, and exchanging solid credits is, well, like exchanging solid currency. I guess.

_Or, in the futures case, exchanging blank checks for more...illegal things._

My beady, avian eyes roamed around the platform looking for a particular Salarian. I didn't see any Salarian that looked like Trechin, until the rumbling of a shuttle docking to a gate got my attention. Standing there on the yellow line was a light brown skinned Salarian dressed in a simple green and white one-piece gathering his suitcase and what other little belongings he owned. Trechin.

Not wanting to lose this golden opportunity I pushed the crowd walking to their shuttles out of my way while fishing my gun out of my holster.

"Move out of my way! Move! Get the fuck back. Trechin! Hey, I'm talking to you! TRECHIN!" OF course, for some of the bigger guys in the crowd, like Krogans and the out of place Elcor, I moved _moved_ around them. Last thing I wanted was a Krogan ripping my head off and shitting down my neck.

Trechin turned his body around just as I got closer to him. His eyes widened in horror and fear as I raised my gun to his face and unloaded hundreds of metal pellets flying at the speed of light.

The aftermath was brutal. Trechin's face, or head rather, was completely decimated with his brain and skull painted on the platform floor.

At least, that's how it should've been.

By some form of divine intervention for a very lucky Trechin, in my haste, I had failed to check to see if the safety on my weapon was on before I ran up on him, which led to much confusion to both sides of the party.

We both stood there for a couple a seconds before Trechin, with him having a quicker thought process than me or Humans in general, raised his three digit hand and slapped the gun out of my hand and sprinted on-board the recently arrived shuttle. Snapping out of stupor, I picked up my gun from the tiled floor and ran after Trechin on the same shuttle a mere seconds before the doors closed.

The lurch of the shuttle accelerating and a very loud beeping noise resounding in the cabin let me know that we were moving, but the amount of people that looked pissed off let me know that Trechin had fought his way through here.

"Hey, Turian." Said a random Batarian bystander dressed in pretty expensive clothing. First class probably. "You looking for a Salarian?"

Looking at the well-dressed Batarian, I walked up to him and twitched my mandibles in greeting. "Well, yes. Indeed I am sir." Giving the rich man a small inclination of my head, I continued, "He wouldn't happen to be about 5'7"and sporting a Green-White one-piece, would he?"

The Batarian looked me up and down and scowled a bit before responding.

"He's two cabins back, some other Salarian had got him and dragged him away." He paused and made a thoughtful expression before continuing, "The next time you talk to me like I'm some Spirits-damned aristocrat, I'll get my boys here," He pointedly looked to his left and right indicating the other Batarians who I just noticed in light armor, "to rip your skin off your body and make it into an Umbrella."

"Uh...yeah, sorry sir. I hope we never meet again for my sake and my skins' sake."

Saying thanks to the Batarian I made my way to the Cabin where the Trechin and the other Salarian were supposed to be. After two rather packed Cabins later I arrived at the 'Caboose' of the Transit Shuttle. After opening the doors I found Trechin and the other Salarian the Batarian mentioned, both aiming pistols at me. Those bastards.

"Well, look at this Valpek. The hunter, has become the hunted!" Trechin said, "What's the matter Turian? Varren got your tongue? Hahahahaha!"

The other Salarian, Valpek, looked at his...friend I guess...and rolled his eyes before glaring at me.

"Listen Turian." the Salarian said in a rather...feminine voice, "We don't want any trouble. Just turn around and go back to wherever you came from."

"Yeah, well I can't do that. Trechin owes money and has to pay it. Plus, what's a lady like you doing out here, with this idiot?" Trechin's face contorts and turns a dark purple at my insult. Any minute now and his head might explode I think.

"Why I'm here is not important, what is though, is how much money Trechin owes."

Both Trechin and I are left dumbstruck at what she just said. She was really going to pay off this fools debts?

"Well, he uh, owes one thousand credits." Vadrien, the galaxies best liar for hire.

"Nice try, tell me how much he owes before I decide to repaint this cabin."

To be honest, the cabin was a little plain, but I'd doubt my blue blood would look anywhere remotely good on the dull orange painting on the walls.

"Well, I see that you are a straightforward woman. Very well. He owes like, 400 credits?"

Looking to Trechin for conformation and getting a nod in return, Valpek opens her omni tool and transferred the credits to my account , a small ping letting us know that the transaction was complete.

"Well, it was an honor doing business with you-"

"-Hurry up and get the hell out of here." Valpek spat before turning her back and walking to a vacant seat.

Nodding to Trechin, who just bared his teeth and walked away, I left the cabin and made my way to a cabin packed with a bunch of Batarians and Humans in it. Third class probably. I leaned against the wall on one if the vacant walls and played a game, that shared shocking similarities to Terraria, on my omni tool.

What shocked me even more was the fact that some of the Humans were eyeing me like a Lion does its' prey.

_I guess that the animosity between Turians and Humans over the First Contact War reaches as far as the Terminus Systems. Cool._

So, the plan was to go to whichever city this Transit Shuttle is going to and then get back on another Transit Shuttle to head back to Dredge City. If I didn't know any better, i'd say that this has certainly been an easy night, even though I'd waste like 50 or 80 credits on travelling. Speaking of travelling...

_Did I even pay to get on this shuttle?_

_Well, you know what the say; Ignorance, is bliss._

* * *

**Authors Note: Sorry for the delay of updating, I'm failing two classes in High School and I'd rather play video games, but I made a promise to a friend that I'd finish this story. **

**Love it? Then Favorite the story! **

**Like it? Then Follow the story! **

**Hate it? Then leave a review telling me whats good/bad! **

**Constructive criticism goes a long way! Flaming goes no-where!**

**As always, WS.**


	5. They call me Pops

_**I own everything. Obviously.**_

* * *

**Arubias City, Rhesus.**

**2177**

* * *

Along the Transit line, the shuttle from Dredge city pulled up, unloading a mixture of species. Among the crowd was a Ebony colored Turian named Vadrien, with four horizontal white lines across his forehead and an arrangement of white dots marking his mandibles. The Turian steadily walked away from the already crowded platform with his sharp blue eyes sweeping the various stores and vendors before seeing what he really needed.

Vadrien's short trek led him to a kiosk selling tickets to a city aptly named Dredge. Making his way to the Asari station clerk, Vadrien walked with a twitch of his mandibles and a spring in his step, Vadrien transferred the right amount of credits for a single ticket for a shuttle that would arrive at 3:30 in the morning. Thinking back on it, he had realized that he spent the entire night out on the streets.

* * *

Checking my Omni-tool for the time I saw that I had an hour until the shuttle arrived. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to go looking around the city for...Stuff. I left the terminal and walked along the sidewalks to…Anywhere really, seeing how this city was way larger than Dredge, I could probably go here every day and still see something new. Wait, this is the Terminus, nothing's new. Unless Aria decided to set up shop here, I don't know.

I'd never been to Arubias, and it certainly was a lot different from Dredge, mostly because of the lack of factories spewing contaminated steam and smoke or whatever it is 28/7. Oh, the days were longer here too, so instead of the Humans saying '24/7' here they say '28/7'. I really don't know how it works, or care. All I needed to know is where the sun rises and where it sets.

You could even find trash piles if you walked far enough from the city. And they said Earth was bad. At least it wasn't like Futurama where they launched their trash into space.

Arubia was much like Earth's New York City, to best describe it. It had tall buildings and flashing neon lights scattered around on small shops, some selling late night meals, and others...more explicit...things.

Never did it with an Asari before...Or anyone else to be honest.

Despite the sudden nostalgia I felt for Earth, I was reminded as to why the Terminus System was dangerous, so I wasn't surprised when a Human got dragged into an alley by a couple of Batarians. God help his poor soul. As I was walking I spotted a... Krogan street vendor that sold roasted Pyjak legs. I was a bit peckish, so I made my way to the Krogan selling the peculiar food item and sat at one of the stools attached to the stand.

The Krogan, decked out in a simple orange and green one-piece with a bloody apron draped around his neck, was leaning against the vendors table and took a sidelong glance at me before turning his attention to the streets.

Rude.

After clearing my throat to try and get his attention, the Krogan grunted and continued to look out at the street. Normally, I wouldn't want to piss off a giant lizard who could probably kill me by just farting on my head, but I was hungry damn it! When I, Vadrien, wanted food, I got it. Back in Dredge city I could just walk out of my apartment and walk to the nearest fast food joint and order some Turian cuisine and i'd get it on the spot, seeing how at fast food joints sometimes had pre-cooked meals. So to say that I wasn't used to being ignored, by a lesser species no less, was a little annoying.

And I may or may not be a racist.

I guess it must be a Turian thing, because ever since my pubescent years I have had a tendency to think myself 'above' the other races of the galaxy. Pretty scary to be honest, one slip up around the wrong person and I could find myself looking at the galaxy from a different perspective.

Deciding to start getting vocal, I folded my talons together and rested my chin on my knuckles and spoke.

"Excuse me, sir. If you hadn't noticed, I am a very hungry customer looking to invest in your business by chowing down on your selection of roasted Pyjak legs and other delectable food choices."

The Krogan pushed himself off from the Vendors table and walked over to stand in front of me and placed both his stubby hands of the table before smiling at me.

"Listen, Turian, I don't care where you come from, what you think you're entitled to, but at this Vendor you will either wait until the actual food is done, or leave and find somewhere else to eat!"

Finished with his rant, the Krogan walked back over to his previous spot near the kiosk and looked at the streets once more. Me though looked over to the ovens and, lo and behold, the three ovens were on full blast cooking the vendor's specialty. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, I looked over and found the Krogan chef smirking at me before looking out at the street once more. I could challenge him and try to regain my pride, but I would die, and I very much value my life, so that was out of the equation. Instead I'd man up and just apologise for my oblivious behavior.

"Hey, uhh, Krogan. I'm sorry I acted like a little shit, I didn't mean to-"

"Can it birdie. I don't want to hear your apologies, makes you look like even more of a pussy than you already are."

Oh. So it was like that huh? Does he really think I will sit there and take that? Who's the one with the gun, huh!?

"And before you do something you will regret, I've been around for nearly 900 years. Just think on that for a bit."

Well, I knew my chances against a Krogan were slim, but this? This is like a Quarian without their enviro-suit trying to live in 14th century Europe.

"Point taken, mister?"

The Krogan looked at me before letting loose a wicked grin showing his jagged sharp teeth. "Call me Pops."

What. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Pops." The Krogan, or 'Pops', said bluntly.

"Oh..Ok then...Pops." To say I was confused would be an understatement. Here we have a thousand year old Krogan, battle hardened no doubt, selling Pyjaks at a vendor in the Terminus system. I guess after all the shit settled, he just decided, 'Fuck it, I wanna become an entrepreneur' and set up shop here.

But I had to give him credit, the man knew how to cook. The flavor of a Pyjak could best be described as stringy, musky, and very bitter. Like a lamb and roast beef kinda taste, I guess.

After I had finished eating, I stayed for a while chatting with the old Krogan - which was for the most part a question answered by a 'Grunt' or 'Humph' - before I took my leave to the Transit station back to Dredge city. I made sure to get the vendor's address before I left, definitely going there again one day.

* * *

**Authors Two-Sense:**

**Hey**_** guys, creator of Mass Effect here giving out free text samples of our new DLC.**_

**Okay, maybe I shouldn't type that, they _may_ sue me for even being sarcastic. **

**_Because I own Mass Effect obviously._ **

**I seriously don't see why we have to put disclaimers, I mean, this site says _FAN. FICTION._**

**I mean, sure we gotta kill off the guys who claim it their work, but who'd believe them? Rule of the internet is; No proof, no believe. **

**(I might have said that wrong, but you get it, right?)**

**Anyway, my updating schedule is really non-existent, so try to understand that I _will_ update at some point.**

***CoughStrategosCough***

**Yeah, screw that story, I threw the notes away.**

**Anyway, review if you want to share your ideas/follow if you like/favorite if you love.**

**As always, WS.**


	6. Asari Made, Fruit Flavored Liquor

**Dredge City, Rhesus. **

**2177**

**08:47**

* * *

The trip back to Dredge was uneventful, and I was glad for that, because when I got back into the now closed nightclub, I saw Pakon, a Turian who was one of the more senior members of the Gang, waiting for someone in the clubs atrium. If it was any other Gang member, I wouldn't be concerned, but Pakon?

Either someone fucked up, or _he's_ going to be the one to "_re-educate_" me on the _rules_ of the Gang. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the second option. In the Gang we all have certain people responsible for certain things. There was a Batarian named Grovos who was in charge of all the money that went through and out of the Gang's bank accounts, a Turian named Lido who was in charge of keeping track of all the new recruits and current census of the Gang's gang members, and there is Pakon, who was in charge of intel and security, and many other people I can't remember right now.

Walking over to the Boss' office I noticed it was locked and knocked on the door and waited for it to open. Why does he lock his door time from time? No one knows, but rumor has that the Boss likes to smack it every once in a while, which I can't really blame him for seeing how he's the ugliest bastard I've ever laid eyes on. Not even a Vorcha would date him. the rumor about him smacking it might be true though, seeing how the two guards who usually stand inside, are now standing outside the office.

After a couple of minutes the door made a low humming noise before the screen turned green and allowed me to open it. Walking in followed by the two guards, who quickly took their posts each side of the room, I quickly noticed the boss putting something in his desk drawer, but wisely didn't inquire about it.

"Ah, Vadrien! I knew you'd come back." the Boss said with that fake ass smile and fake ass friendly personality. "I'm assuming that since you are back here you have successfully gotten rid of our little problem?"

No.

"Yes sir, it wasn't that difficult of a job, sir. He died screaming." Judging from the look on the Boss's face, he bought the lie.

Simpleton.

"Well, now that that's all taken care of, I have some good news for you!"

Shit.

"I'm pretty sure you've noticed our little friend Pakon standing out there, yes?" I nodded my head. "Then I'd be glad to tell you that not only will he beat you to an inch of your life, he will also be your new mentor until you can be shown to complete your jobs safely, timely, and most of all. Correctly."

After telling me of Pakons purpose here the Boss pressed a button on his desk and folded his hands on his desk smiling at me pleasantly in his own strange way.

After a couple of seconds the door opened and walked in a Sandy colored Turian with vibrant green eyes. I stared at him with wide eyes before I caught myself staring, deeply troubled and surprised at the fact that he was Barefaced...

Every Turian I've seen so far on this Planet either has the face markings of this worlds, like mines, or of another colonies. The fact that Pakon has neither suggests that He doesnt align himself to any colony, or something happened where he was forced to get rid of it...

"So...This is the fucker I'm supposed to fuck up and nurse back to health." Pakon said matter-of-factly, his voice airy and and chilling to the bone.

There's not a single doubt in my mind, this guy is a cold-blooded killer.

The Boss reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle of Turian brandy and tossed it to Pakon, who skillfully picked it out of the air, before taking out another bottle of... No way. This guy has Asari made fruit flavored liquor...

While trying my best not to laugh and to focus on instead breathing, the Boss motioned to the two seats in front of his desk and silently commanded us to sit and drink with him. Well, for Pakon to sit and drink, seeing how he glared at me and flexed his mandibles upwards, a Turian way of strongly saying 'No' to someone weaker than you.

At least I know training has started.

"So, Vadrien, you're probably wondering why Pakon is going to train you for the next whatever months or some shit like that, yes?" To be honest, I _was_ curious as to why someone of his rank and influence would select a lowly grunt like me.

"Yes Boss I am." The Boss's face scrunched together after taking a shot of his fruity liquor. What a lightweight.

"Well, it seems that we are short of people in the intel department or whatever so they need like three people like you to do some secret agent shit." The Boss said before taking another shot of his Asari brand flavored liquor and continuing, "And since you and four other recruits are the only ones fresh in this precinct, we decided to pick from four which will be going with Mr. Pakon here."

Shit. Don't tell me... I have become a main character!? This all sounds sketchy as shit! Am I going to be part of a super soldier program? Be part of some anti-leadership plot? Or maybe...Become the new head of intel and Security...

"Don't listen to this fucktard, we just need three fresh recruits to be inducted into my department branch to train and turn into agents. Plus, I owe your father a favor." Pakon explained.

My Father? I was utterly confused and curious as to how and why Pakon knew my Father. I would ask him of course but, you know, reasons not to. Pakon seemed to have seen my confusion and made a "Talk about it later" gesture with one of his hands.

"So, two other people and I are going to be spies or something like that?" I said.

Pakon looked at the Boss's, no his, bottle of brandy and made a light chirping noise before answering.

"Yes, and no." He looked back up at me and narrowed his eyes, examining me before continuing. "Yes, you will be used to gather some amount of intel time from time, but no, you won't really be spies in the traditional sense."

"Oh, so we'll be, like, Black Ops?"

Pakon glanced at the Boss before they both burst into a cacophony of laughter. Even the guards were laughing at me... "No you fucker, you're not going to be Black Ops! You three will be another Green squad in our department used for front line reconnaissance since we lost the original squad in some freak accident involving a crane..."

I looked down at my feet embarrassed for a while before Pakon got up out of his seat and laid his hand on my shoulder causing me to look in his eyes while subconsciously lowering my mandibles in submission.

I made a note to find out how to control my mandibles on consciously later.

"Listen Vadrien, I assure you that you'll enjoy your time with me. Never has any squad I trained personally ever failed a mission. I can't say anything about them dying though..." Oh that's reassuring. "But!" Pakon shouted quickly, "That doesn't mean I will be easy on you, or your squadmates."

Pakon stared at me for a while before he seemed to have just remembered something before grinning at me sickly and tightening his grip on my shoulder.

"And once I finish beating the living shit out of you, you'll have a pain tolerance as high as a Krogans!" Pakon laughed out.

After I got the shit literally kicked out of me, we said our farewells to the Boss and after I went to the gang run hospital I limped home with an expensive ass medical bill, growling stomach from the many times I vomited and a data-pad with information telling how long I have until I leave, which was three days, with Pakon and the two other people chosen for the new Green squad and what to bring/not bring to the training facility located off-world on an undisclosed planet.

All in all? Life was shit. The Mass effect universe is shit in real life, and everybody in this Galaxy are assholes.

* * *

When I got finally reached my apartment I clambered inside my room and quickly undressed and laid in bed, not bothering to wash myself or eat any food. But I did turn the TV on to watch some news, which I was thankful for because on the news was something that played a critical role in the Galaxies and I's future. Kinda.

Fifty Alliance Marines. Dead. And this grisly event transpired all on the planet of Akuze.

* * *

**Ayyy lmao, what'd be up guys! Sorry for not updating this story in a long, long time, but I've been busy binge watching Heroes on netflix so I can better prepare myself for the new Heroes coming out this fall. And I've been doing alot of grinding on War Thunder so I can be apart of the Cool kids jet club.**

**Anyway, pretty short chapter compared to my other ones I've put up but, hey, you know what they say; "You can lead a jackass to jokes but you cant make him laugh".**

**Hope you enjoyed R&amp;R and I actually forgot what I usually say at the end...**

**Wow.**


	7. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

That night I didn't sleep, no, I couldn't sleep. I just laid in bed staring at the ceiling of my slowly crumbling apartment. My mind was too busy thinking to actually let me sleep.

_Thinking._

Why was I thinking? I mean, Shepard being on Akuze doesn't affect me, well, it indirectly it does-sorta-kinda. Other than that I don't know for sure if Shepard was even _there_. For all I know this would be one of those 'happens regardless' things in life.

With a click of my mandibles I lazily dragged myself out of my bed and, body still sore, shambled over to my mini fridge pulling out some Vita-Water and a piece of… I don't know what the fuck this is, it looked like Bologna but smelled like the Varren shit you would see littering the city streets. Or any other species waste now that I think about it...

"When the hell did I even buy this?"

With overwhelming disgust I threw the Bologna, no, _shit in patty form_, in the trash compactor. I was considering getting takeout before remembering that I had spent all of my money paying my medical bill.

Even the Gang's own doctors are corrupt.

So now I was officially broke, sore, and very hungry.

_I hate this galaxy._

* * *

_Dredge City, Rhesus._

_New Haven Nightclub_

Walking, no sorry, _limping_ through the doors of the Gang's Nightclub I saw the Boss and another human sitting at the bar area talking, before I could make my way over there though one of the Turian guards -who knows where the hell he came from-grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back to stand next to him.

"Don't even think about it _Chikte,_ wait till they're finished."

I stared at the guard for a moment trying to think about what _Chikte_ meant before I looked at the unknown human and looked back at him.

"Yeah, yeah my bad. So who's the Human? Haven't seen him around before." And I was right, the armor our guest was wearing was really, really expensive. Even decent armor being something rare in the Terminus, but the stuff he was wearing? He had to be rolling in credit chits. I haven't even heard of the company it was made by.

The Turian next to me clicked his mandibles in displeasure. "I don't know… Just showed up unannounced. Drexas over there aims his gun at him and demands to know what he wants, blah blah blah, next thing you know Drexas arm is bent in an angle it's not supposed to be and poor Tarek…" He looks over to said Turian lying unconscious on the floor. "Poor kid didn't even get a chance to pull out his gun before that Human snapped his neck."

"Oh...he's dead." My statement went unanswered as the Turian started talking again.

"Anyway, Boss hears the commotion, comes out, looks at the guy and they start talking, and now they're drinking like they're old friends." The Turian shrugged his shoulders before motioning me to follow him with a flick of his head. As soon as we started walking down a corridor, he began to speak.

"So. You got a name?" He asked expectantly. "Yeah, it's Vadrien. And, you are?" The guard's eyes widened before he shook his head and chuckled lightly.

"Ah, spirits forgive me, I can't go around asking for names when I haven't given mine, now can I?" At the end of our walk he stopped in front a door with a passcode which he quickly put the codes in for before he went in, with me following behind him shortly.

The room he led me to was the the Club's break room. The room featured the basic necessities for staffing plus some, like the very dirty and old cotton candy machine resting on the marble counter. Since we were closed to the public at this hour, there was barely anyone occupying the room save for a Batarian who was looking at something on his omnitool.

_Gonna have to try that cotton candy machine out later._

The Turian walked over to one of the empty tables and motioned for me to join him. I ended up sitting directly in front of him and took the chance to look more closely at his face.

The Turians skin was far lighter than mine, like the color of sand, and his eyes were a greenish-orange. His clan markings though were a mystery to me, as I have never seen them before, but his face also scored numerous light scars reaching from his crest to his collarbone. And I noticed whenever he talked the right side of his mouth would move much higher than the left side. It was almost as if he had some type of injury preventing full control of his face.

"Anyway Vadrien, where was I?" The nameless Turian did a mock thinking gesture with his head before looking at me again. "Ah, yes. We were discussing names, correct?" At my nod he gave a crooked smile before continuing. "Anyway, the name's Valentress. And I happen to be one of the unfortunate _Chikte'_s shipping out with you and Pakon. And some other poor spirit."

That got my attention real quick, due to my lack of _who _was joining Pakon and my fear of dying a little too soon for my liking. I mean, you can call me a hypocrite seeing how I joined a gang in the Terminus, but I fail to see what qualified me to be included on Pakon's little _Groupe de Fous_.

"Well," I started, not really sure on _where_ to begin. "I suppose you don't mind if I ask you some questions then?" Valentress seemed to scowl - I think, haven't seen that expression before on a Turian - before nodding his head.

"Ask away, not gonna say I know everything, but I'll see what I can answer."

_Sweet._

"Ok, well for one thing, do you know anything about a Turian named Adrien Praximus? And his relation with Pakon?" Hell, the odds of this guy knowing how and why Pakon 'owed my dad a favor' is slim to none, but worth a try.

"Hmm, Adrien Praximus… Personally I've never heard of him, but I _may _have come across a few files with that name floating around in it."

"So my best chance would be to ask Pakon about it personally then…" I said disheartedly.

The Turian gave me a long stare before leaning on the table with his elbows. "So why do you want to know about Adrien Praximus? You got a vendetta or something?"

I looked at him for a second debating whether I should tell him or not, but decided to tell him since, well, If Pakon knew my dad then he more than most likely wouldn't- Wait a minute. Files?

"Sorry, but you said files? Correct?" Valentress tilted his head to the left in a quizzical fashion before grinning.

"Yeah, that's right. Files. Mostly about his dealings with the Gang. Stuff like that, you know." He said stiffly.

"Nothing else?" I asked slowly. Oh, I knew he was hiding something, that much was obvious, but I wasn't stupid enough to ask more about it. I absently recalled one of the rules the gang teaches its initiates back from my "re-education" with Pakon.

"_Rule 3 of the Terminus; You don't give anything for free, and you sure as hell don't ask for anything for free. Everything comes with a price." Pakon recited as he paced around my bloodied and broken body lying on the floor. "I believe the Humans have a saying for that, uh, 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' or something like that. Now, Tell me the Rules again, this time if you get one wrong, a talon is going bye-bye..."_

Good times. "Oh yeah, there were other stuff, but It's kinda fuzzy right now." Valentress said off-handedly. He definitely wanted something.

"Ok, cool. Thanks anyway." Valentress seemed to t=do a double take before sputtering incoherently. After a couple of seconds he managed to properly speak again.

"You mean you don't want to know more!? I actually know a lot! Hey look at that my memory isn't so fuzzy anymore!" Hook. Line. And sinker. Man, I should become a detective.

"Nah, I figured the best person to ask is Pakon himself." And I couldn't really ask my "Dad", since he upped and left shortly after I joined the Gang and Company. My "Mom" had died of a drug overdose somewhere down the line but I'm pretty sure there was some foul play involved.

"Ok, well. I guess I'll take my leave. It was, uh, nice meeting you Valentress." I said as I stood up from my chair. As I was almost through the door Valentress called shouted my name causing me to stop and look back.

"You can call me Val. Everyone calls me Val." Val said before giving me a shit-eating grin, well, the Turian equivalent….. I think.

"Sure thing… Val".

Now that that was done, it was time to talk to the Boss…

* * *

**A/N: Ayooooooooo! Forgive me for the very, very long absence, Laziness and games aren't a very good mix for a person who has to do things. I believe that is called _procrastination_. Anyway, heres a brand new smackin' chapter for you guys, I will try to get the other chapter out soon.**

_I make no promises..._

_Actually, I think this chapter is short... Must be a desktop thing, everything looks bigger and longer on mobile..._

**Anyway this be Womanslayer, signing out.**

**~WS. WS? WS.**


	8. Constant Vigilance!

_**"Come Traveller, rest thy feet and eat thy fill. For thou'st journeyed so far, to only reach thy end."**_

* * *

When I was finished talking with Valentress, or Val, I was somewhat glad to see that the unknown Human from before was gone, leaving the Boss sitting at the Bar counter alone. I also noticed that the dead Turian's -Tarek, I think his name was- body was removed from the bar area.

As I made my way to the Boss I couldn't help but notice that, once again, his selection of drink was some fruit flavored alcohol. A Salarian brand this time.

As I neared the Boss, he spoke to me before I could to him. "Ah, _wellllluh, _if it isn't the _secret _agent Vardiene-" "Vadrien..." "-Adrian!" It's not even noon and this guy is wasted. Off of fruity liquor no less…

"Well, what cannuh do fo' yah?" The Boss slurred. Deciding to go at this slowly, and carefully, I started with the most relevant question.

"Who was that Human you were talking if earlier? If you don't mind telling me."

I soon would come to regret asking this question first, while he was obviously lost beyond the world's gravitational well.

"That! That _fuckin' _piece of SHIT! Who the fuck does he think he is! Walking into _MY_ fine establishment, and….And… Oderin' ME to? TO CLOSE DOWN THE CLUB!? I! I HAVE _NEVER_ BEEN SO INSULTED! SO, SCANDALIZED, SO! SO… So… Arrgh, my fucking head…"

*plunk*

I looked on at the Boss' unconscious form for a moment or two before the two usual guards for his office came over, looked at me, and hauled the boss back to his office.

Deciding that he wasn't going to be available for a while, I decided to go to the Underbog.

The Underbog is a place located in the city of Norvak and was owned by and operated by the Gang. Also the same location of which Pakon and his lieutenants operated from. One of the Underbog's many purposes being for members to find any odd-jobs and also to act as a HQ for our region.

And speaking of odd-jobs, I needed one bad. 43 credits won't buy me anything edible on this planet as far as I know.

So I set out of the club and made my way to one of the public shuttles, setting a course in the navigational VI for the city of Norvak, a good two hours away, allowing me to take a quick nap before getting on with my busy day.

* * *

_**Norvak, Rhesus.**_

_**Somewhere above the city...**_

The heavy and sudden jerk of the shuttle I was using woke me from my slumber. I had made it to Norvak, evident by the Central Purification Spire located in the middle of the city, but me arriving to Norvak was the least of my worries. What was my main worry you ask?

The fact that the shuttle was careening towards the ground and there being a rather large hole in the front of it where the engine block _should_ have been billowing a vicious purplish-blue smoke. _That's_ what.

Turns out that the shuttle had been hit by a missile or something of a large caliber, and seeing how I don't have much time until impact, I quickly braced myself.

Even before the shuttle fully stopped I quickly manually released the side door and rolled out, sprinting my way into a nearby alley.

Whoever or _whatever_ shot the shuttle was apparently taking its sweet time following up. Which meant whomever did this were amateurs. Or smart. Not sure which.

But that didn't stop the nagging thought in my head. _Who_ is responsible for this attack? If I recalled correctly- which I do, thank you very much -this is a _Gang_ owned planet, like, everything here exists _because _of the Gang. So who the hell got on this planet with heavy weapons like whatever the fuck that was and is able to shoot a shuttle down Willy-nilly?

_Unless, no one had to get on the planet at all… _

Thinking back on it, that guy at the club the Boss was talking to… Apparently he told him to close the place down… Then there's the talk a while back when I first joined the Gang about one of the District Boss's stirring up trouble…

Oh shit.

There was a fucking civil war going on now of all times? Like literally yesterday everything was fine and _now _this shit happens?

I swear, I'm starting to smell a main character thing going on around here…

My musings were cut short as several assault rifle shots and shouting were heard rather close to my position behind an alley dumpster. Deciding to not tempt lady luck I went to reach for my trusty SMG so I could move around somewhat safely.

_Only to find that it was not strapped to my hip, where it _should _have been…_

I would go back to the crash of the shuttle and look for it but decided it was too risky. Instead I thought long and hard about what it was that I had done bad to deserve this…

Left with no choice I left the safety of the dumpster and carefully made my way around the city block. The whole area was like a ghost town. What surprised me the most though was the lack of damage to the infrastructure. It wasn't until after I had made it three blocks out that I found the culprits of my crash landing. _I'm sure of it… Kinda._

Catching myself from walking out in the open, I quickly took cover by the wall of a building before peeking out from its corner on the street again.

There, gathered around three APC's were some well armed and well armoured individuals. About fifteen at a glance, all lounging about. There were three out of the fifteen though huddled in the back of the APC closest to me, all reading off of one Datapad in man's hand who was reading aloud to the both of them.

Taking in the features and details on their armor, they were obviously the upstarts, but what made my stomach uneasy was the fact that their armour was the same color scheme as the Human from the night club. An ugly green/blue combo with their under-mesh being a _very_ bright yellow. I peeked my head out again carefully to get a good look at the situation.

"..._Two blocks east and a couple more north and we'll meet up with Darthseid."_

"_Wait, Daggert, what about Arsminder and her cohorts?" _

"_If she's late, she's late. Simple as that. Plus, it'll means more money for us!"_ The man, who seemed to be the one in charge, made a couple of furious swipes on the Datapad before putting it back in a case attached to his hip. He then stepped out of the APC and addressed the assembly of mercs lounging in the streets.

"_Alright boys and girls, we're gonna link up with General Darthseid and hopefully get to be in the rearguard when he assaults Van Tramps fortress." _That comment drew a few nervous chuckles from the crowd, and for good reason too. Reinhardt Van Tramp is the Regional Boss of this city and frankly the only Boss smart enough to invest in an actual _stronghold_, unlike the other Bosses, like mine for example. The leader of the the Mercs got my attention when he started speaking again.

"_Aethelstän! Grab your team and scout out the next two blocks. I want Alleys, houses, shops, and dumpsters tagged and mapped! Get to It! Everyone else, get in the APC's! We're moving out in 10!"_

_"Aye, Sir! Majestic Team, with me!"_

Great. That means I have to stay low for ten minutes. I can do that. Just avoid any patrols they might have set up an-

_Shit. I forgot to check my ass before watching these pukes._

And almost as if the Gods themselves were waiting for my realization, an ominous _click_ sounded behind me poor vulnerable back. Instinctively I reached for my SMG only to remember that it was lost back at the crash site. Whomever behind me saw this and gave an amused chuckle before speaking.

"Alright Birdie, hands up nice and slowly. And walk out into the open. Any funny movements and I'll bust ya."

Complying with the order, because what else would I do, I'm all about me, remember? I walked out into the plaza with the Human, and three more behind him I later saw, and almost instantly the Human from before, _Daggert_, poked his head out from the back of the APC and gave a sick, twisted grin towards me before hopping out and walking slowly, no _stalking_, to meet us halfway. Now that we were closer I could see every disgusting detail in his human face. From the dirt of the days out in the field to the scars crossing his neck and right eye. There was also parts of his left ear missing.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A little bird far, _far_ away from his nest." He then looked away from me and to the Human who had found me and smiled at him.

"What's your name again kid?"

"Gregor, sir!" Daggert then crossed the distance between him and Gregor and _fucking decked him! _Gregor _flew _to the ground and his nose was bleeding almost instantly.

"Good job Gregor! Now get the fuck out of my sight and go back on patrol you degenerate fuck! You could have fucking told one of your squadmates to take this little shit to us!" Daggert then grabbed Gregor by the collar of his armor and used as a brace and started to beat his head in.

_Oh God, Athame, Pillars, Ancestors, whoever the hell out there, please save me. No, kill me now! Make a sniper shoot me in the head or something!_

After what seemed like a good minute, but in reality was only ten seconds, Daggert let go of Gregor and stood up straight before he turned his cursed head towards me with my hands still in the air.

"What's your name kid."

Confused for a moment, I had to mentally do a checklist before answering him.

"Vadrien, sir."

"Vadrien, huh? Hmm, by the looks of your armor it looks like you belong to the Dredge. What are you doing in Norvak? Surely your Boss told you what was going down here for the past week?"

_HOLD ON, WHAT? For the past _week!? _If this was going down that long why didn't Pakon say anything about it when he was in Dredge City!? Or our Boss too!? He's a freaking _Boss _for crying out loud!_

Just as I was finished with my mental recap, Daggert let out an obnoxiously loud laugh.

"Well, don't worry. I ain't gonna kill ya. But you ain't walking free either." Daggert smirked at me before giving a rather fearsome grin. "Nighty-Night Birdie!"

_And with that, it was a single punch from him that'd knock me out._

* * *

**A/N: _Heyoooooo, long time no see. No excuse really, I was just lazy. And video games too. PS: I wanted this pushed out as fast as possible, s any mistakes don't bother me. I mean, you can point them out, but I'd probably wont get to it until next month._**

**_-WS_**


End file.
